MISSOULA – Even as he dashed just inside the pylon at the corner of the end zone, even as he turned towards the Montana Grizzlies’ bench to celebrate, waving bye-bye to Tennessee State’s chances of an upset, even as the points went up on the scoreboard, it was hard to believe what Junior Bergen had just done.
Not one, but two punt return touchdowns in the same game, a performance that both carried the Griz (again) to a crucial playoff win and tied the all-time FCS record for career punt return touchdowns?
It was preposterous, inconceivable, unbelievable, the stuff that should only be possible in video games or sports movies. But there was no inspiring orchestral score rising up as Bergen coasted into the end zone for the second time on Saturday – just the hoarse cheering of 12,000 hardy Griz fans as they witnessed yet another legendary chapter in their smiling icon’s playoff apotheosis.
Of Bergen’s eight career punt return scores, five have come on the elevated stage of the FCS Playoffs. And just like his touchdown returns against Furman and North Dakota State last year, they proved decisive on Saturday, providing the final margin in Montana’s 41-27 win over the visiting Tigers of Tennessee State in a game that exploded in the second half.
“The kid’s unreal,” said Griz cornerback and Bergen’s longtime friend Trevin Gradney. “There’s not much else you can say about it. In the big moments, he shows up, and you can always count on him to do his job and the other guys to do their jobs around him. He’s a play-maker, man.”
Bergen’s first score, with just under two minutes left in the third quarter, went up the left sideline for 52 yards and gave Montana a seemingly insurmountable 27-6 lead.
His second, with under seven minutes to go in the fourth, followed a furious Tennessee State comeback and went 54 yards up the right sideline as he caught the punt on a dead run, hesitated behind his blockers for a beat, then cleared the traffic, dropped the last defender with a stiff-arm and beat the punter in a footrace to the front corner of the end zone, putting Montana up 34-20.
Together, they allowed the former Billings Senior star to tie Florida A&M’s LeRoy Vann for the all-time career FCS record with eight punt return touchdowns, one behind Dante Pettis’ Division-I record of nine.
And they redeemed a sloppy, turnover-filled performance from the Grizzlies as Montana’s stars delivered victory on a cold, crisp night at Washington-Grizzly.
“Football games are interesting,” Montana head coach Bobby Hauck mused. “There’s a lot of different ways to win and lose games, and our guys found a way to win that one.”
With Nick Ostmo out, Eli Gillman ran 20 times for 136 yards, only the second 100-yard game in the last eight for the running back from Minnesota.
Gillman’s highlight 59-yard touchdown, on which he stiff-armed a defender on the left sideline before cutting all the way back to the right pylon, sealed the game for the Griz with just under two minutes left.
“I’ve watched him all week,” Tennessee State head coach Eddie George said about Gillman. “I played running back, I know a good one when I see one. He’s very patient. He sets up his blocks well, runs behind his pads. He’s tough to bring down, especially in cold weather, and it showed up. … He’s a special back, and that’s what you have to have in November and December, is a back that can take over the game.”
Linebacker Riley Wilson led the Griz defense with 3.5 tackles for loss as Montana dominated the line of scrimmage all game long.
All three of those heroic efforts proved necessary, given everything that went wrong for the 14th-seeded Grizzlies, who moved to 9-4 with the win.
A smaller-than-usual crowd, even for Thanksgiving weekend, showed up for an 8:23 p.m. kickoff. The Griz threw for just 115 yards. More glaringly, they lost three fumbles, including two by quarterback Logan Fife that led directly to TSU points and one by Gillman that killed a Montana drive inside the Tigers’ 5-yard line. Fife’s fumbles got him benched in favor of freshman Keali’i Ah Yat.
Up 27-6 after Bergen’s first touchdown return, the Griz looked to have landed the knockout blow with under two minutes left in the third quarter.
Instead, it was the Tigers who came firing off the ropes, scoring twice in the next one minute, 47 seconds of game time on a 3-yard pass from Draylen Ellis to Karate Brenson and an 11-yard run by Ellis.
The latter was set up by Fife’s second fumble of the game, as the quarterback tried to scramble out of a collapsing pocket and instead lost the ball. Linebacker Sanders Ellis, who had three TFLs and also recovered two fumbles for Tennessee State, scooped up the loose ball and took it back to the Grizzlies’ 11, setting up Ellis’ TD run as the Tigers closed the gap to 27-20.
George said forcing fumbles was a huge point of emphasis during his post-game interview. TSU’s defense is coordinated by former Montana linebacker Brandon Fisher.
Montana sacked Ellis five times, contributing to the Tigers finishing the game with negative-19 rushing yards, but the grad transfer quarterback from Austin Peay also completed 27 of 34 passes for 242 yards and two scores to Brenson.
Montana had a chance to go up two scores midway through the fourth quarter, but Gillman fumbled inside the TSU 5-yard line and Ellis once again pounced on the ball.
“We did try to fumble the game away a little bit,” Hauck said. “That wasn’t very good. … Those were three critical errors in the game because, you know, they probably made it a little bit tighter than it needed to be.”
That left it up to Bergen to be the hero for the Griz, and he obliged in stunning fashion, adding another chapter to his already legendary playoff resume.
“I’m super blessed,” Bergen said. “I thank God every night and every morning for it. These guys trust me and they look to me in some of these moments, and I’m just so grateful to be able to capitalize on that.”
The Griz play at No. 3 South Dakota State next week in a rematch of last year’s national championship game, won by the Jackrabbits.
